Lumos Diagnostics (ASX:LDX) has surged +140% to sell at 7cps in Wednesday’s lunchtime trade after inking a $420 million deal for use of its fingerprick blood test, FebriDX, to determine if an infection is bacterial or not.
Listen to the HotCopper podcast for in-depth discussions and insights on all the biggest headlines from throughout the week. On Spotify, Apple, and more.
While a far cry from the infamous Theranos product that claimed to diagnose everything, Lumos has, in fact, made a finger-prick blood test diagnostic product work (as far as bacterial infections go).
And that, in turn, has caught the eye of an entity called PHASE, headquartered in Hong Kong but based in the United States.
PHASE, for its part, now sits as Lumos’s exclusive distributor in the U.S. for FebriDX and is interested with particular regard to the ability of the tech to determine respiratory-based diagnoses.
Wednesday’s deal all hinges on the FDA offering the company a waiver when it comes to the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (CLIA), but investors are clearly bullish that this will be the case.
The share price has reacted at first to the initial cash base this deal offers, but obviously, the larger implications for the efficacy of Lumos’s fingerprick blood test tech, a device with a value prop that’s easy to understand.
Indeed, company CEO Doug Ward said as much: “This agreement validates the value of the FebriDx technology and provides a clear pathway to the U.S. market.”
And if it gets that CLIA waiver from the FDA, it expects less barrier to entry for “a broader range of healthcare settings,” in other words, local doctors’ offices, ERs and outpatient clinics lacking laboratories.
The material provided in this article is for information only and should not be treated as investment advice. Viewers are encouraged to conduct their own research and consult with a certified financial advisor before making any investment decisions. For full disclaimer information, please clickhere.
A personalised tool to help users track selected stocks. Delivering real-time notifications on price updates, announcements, and performance stats on each to help make informed investment decisions.
